Archive for Extension

I found out about the “Get Engaged! A Guide to Getting Involved in Your Community” program on Twitter. Eric Walcott, a State Specialist with Michigan State University Extension’s Government and Public Policy programs, was sharing his experience offering the program in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Here are the 2 tweets that prompted me to reach out to Eric.

Can’t emphasize that enough. Multiple electeds said this to program participants, and residents said “Really?” and were full of ideas.

Our conversation for the podcast covers the “Get Engaged” program, but also Eric’s work talking with local governments about real engagement. As we talked, I was reminded of this Gapingvoid illustration:

The latest Working Differently in Extension podcast features a conversation with Dave Campbell, Community Studies Specialist in Cooperative Extension and associate dean for social/human sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California-Davis.

Dave says the goal of his work is “to deepen the practice of democratic citizenship in California communities.” That goal speaks directly to my interests in equity, engagement and collective action. It also speaks to Extension’s legacy of empowering citizens. We talked about whether that legacy still plays a central role in Extension.

We also talked about what Dave means by forming a “community of the problem.” It’s really about turning a private problem into a public problem. Can people faced with the same problem come together to define the problem and work on it together? Dave is looking at that possibilities around the issue of food waste.

I had to hold back the tears in a small meeting room at Big Sky Resort. Jennifer Anderson, Montana State University Extension Agent in Rosebud and Treasure Counties, was wrapping up her incredible presentation, “Community Foundation and Extension Building Capacity Together: One Community’s Story,” at the 2017 NACDEP/CDS Conference. Her enthusiasm and sincerity had the room mesmerized. When she said, “We know our community foundation has saved lives,” the emotion in her voice had people leaning forward in their chairs. At the end, she quoted Devine Carama. At our general session just a hour or so before, Devine had said, “We are arrogant to believe we will see the impact of our leadership while we are alive,” and he challenged us to build a legacy that would live beyond us. As Jennifer ended her presentation, she said she knew this, the Community Foundation of Northern Rosebud County, was her legacy. I wasn’t the only one moved to tears.

First, an apology. I’m sorry for the recent radio silence. The holidays and a family-wide cold/flu epidemic have me well behind. So far behind, that I am just now posting this interview that was recorded last month.

I think it brings up some interesting discussions about eXtension and its current rate of adoption among Extension professionals.

What do you think? Is eXtension being used in your state? Do you think the number of Extension professionals using eXtension tolls is a good measure of its success? Share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!

Sara Axtell and Kari Smalkoski are two of the authors of the Journal of Extension article, “One Size Does Not Fit All: Effective Community-Engaged Outreach Practices with Immigrant Communities.” When I first read the article, I immediately connected it to my interest in collective action networks. Community-engaged outreach practices prioritize relationship building, reciprocity and two-way sharing of knowledge. All of those priorities have a place in a networked approach to problem solving as well.

Cooperative Extension needs to do a better job of engaging the public, not just as audience members, but as co-learners and co-creators. As Sara said in the podcast, we need to think about where the ideas for our programs come from, what issues we are trying to address and about “partnering with communities and engaging with communities way before a program starts.” Sara continued, we need to “remember that communities have their own priorities that might be different than our priorities.” When we create programs first, without including the community in that creation, it’s difficult to think of the community as anything other than audience, a group to be talked at and marketed to.

When I was looking for a way to mark the 100th episode of “Working Differently in Extension,” I reached out to the readers of this blog and my Twitter followers.

Steve Judd first shared the idea of turning the tables and having someone interview me. I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I’m a bit of an introvert. On the other hand, I love to hear myself talk, as many of you know. It’s pretty hard for me to judge the final product, but I certainly had a lot of fun in the process.

Thanks to Connie Hancock and Paul Hill for volunteering to be the guest interviewers for this episode. Thanks to Julie Kuehl, my co-producer for the first 20 episodes. Thanks to all the guests who shared their time, their work and a bit of themselves. Most of all, thanks to each of you who have listened to and supported the podcast over the years.

We’ve been flirting with Snapchat at NDSU Extension Service. We’ve created some on-demand geofilters for events, but we don’t have ant NDSU Extension Snapchat accounts.

Dr. Chelsey A. Ahrens, Specialty Livestock/Youth Education Specialist with University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, has fully embraced Snapchat for her Arkansas 4-H Livestock program. I talked about how she is using Snapchat and other social media to reach 4-H participants and their families.

A few weeks ago on the podcast, I talked with Jamie Seger and Paul Hill about their experience on the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy’s (ECOP) Innovation Task Force. On the latest episode, spoke with Dr. Keith Smith, who chaired that task force.

Dr. Smith is Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University. He served as the director of Ohio State University Extension for more than 20 years.

It was great to get a former director’s perspective on innovation in Cooperative Extension. Dr. Smith is frank about Extension’s need to innovate. He referenced the Innovation: An American Imperative, the call by industry leaders for policies and investments to ensure the U.S. remains a global innovation leader, in asking if its imperative that the nation innovate, why should it not be imperatve for Extension?